The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality

358 Pages·2013·3.07 MB·English

by  David Jay Brown

Spirituality/EnthEogEnS $18.95
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“A provocative journey into the realms of psychedelics, consciousness, creativity,
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science, and culture. Buy this book and feed your brain!” o
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Clifford piCkovEr, author of The Math Book and Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves
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For as long as humanity has existed, we have used psychedelics to raise our levels of
consciousness and seek healing—first in the form of visionary plants such as cannabis
and now with the addition of human-created psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA.
These substances have inspired spiritual awakenings, artistic and literary works, techno-
logical and scientific innovation, and even political revolutions. But what does the future
hold for humanity—and can psychedelics help take us there?
Sharing insights from his discussions with luminaries such as Terence McKenna,
Edgar Mitchell, Candace Pert, Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Jerry Garcia, Albert
Hofmann, Annie Sprinkle, and Rupert Sheldrake, author David Jay Brown explores
the revelations brought about through his psychedelic experiences and his work with P
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visionaries of the psychedelic and scientific communities. He investigates the role of
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psychedelics in lucid dreaming, time travel, sex and pleasure enhancement, morphic
field theory, the survival of consciousness after death, encounters with nonhuman Ye

entities, and the interface between science and spirituality. Examining the ability of N
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psychedelic drugs to incite creativity, neurogenesis, and the evolution of conscious-
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ness, he explains that they are messengers from the plant world designed to help H
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elevate our awareness and sense of interconnectedness.
Revealing not only what psychedelics can teach us about ourselves and the world E
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around us, Brown also shows how they are preparing humanity for a future of enlight-
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ened minds and worlds beyond our solar system.
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O DAVID JAY BROWN holds a master’s degree in psychobiology n
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BR from New York University. A former neuroscience researcher at the c
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HOT Bulletin, he is the author of several books, including Mavericks of the
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Mind and Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse. He lives in
Ben Lomond, California.
Cover design by Peri Swan
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New Science
The of
Psychedelics

“David Jay Brown’s book is a persuasive and necessary argument
as we collectively move toward the mainstreaming of psychedelics
and face the unique survival challenges of the twenty-first century.
This is an outstanding book to read and share widely.”
Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
“This is a simply splendid book! David Brown is a leading-edge
activist, explorer, and philosopher who has blended an astound-
ing number of personal experiences as well as commentaries from
amazing people into a narrative that goes well beyond other books
about psychedelics. He reevaluates not only the well-known areas
of healing, psychotherapy, creativity, and spirituality but also
extends his wise deliberations and deep explorations into areas that
most of us still shy away from—freely discussing alien encounters,
psychedelic sex, mixing and matching various substances, para-
psychology, consciousness after death, and more—drawing on his
own extensive voyages and exploration for telling examples. He is
unafraid to explore the dark sides of his own personality as well as
his joys as needed to illuminate challenging aspects of the multi-
faceted psychedelic universe.”
James Fadiman, Ph.D., author of
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide
NeScPs.indd 1 3/20/13 10:26 AM
“David Jay Brown writes it all up in a sure hand with a flare appro-
priate to the subject matter so that the reader is as much enter-
tained as informed.”
R.U. Sirius, author of Everybody Must Get Stoned
“If your taste is for paradigm busting, you’ll find lots of food for
thought in The New Science of Psychedelics. On the menu are para-
psychology, unexplained phenomena, strange powers, scientific
mysteries, confounding conventional science, odd animal behavior,
morphic fields, the Gaia hypothesis, alien beings, entities, forbid-
den knowledge, kundalini, survival after death, and more.”
Thomas B. Roberts, author of
The Psychedelic Future of the Mind
“The New Science of Psychedelics is a knockout! David Jay Brown
tackles the touchy topic of ‘sex on drugs’ with the wisdom of
hands-on experience, an expanded mind, and the ability to get
into deep places. This book reads like an honest, intimate love
letter!”
Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D., sex worker turned
EcoSexologist and coauthor of Urban Tantra:
Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century
“Dave’s particular mixture of youthful curiosity, honest skep-
ticism, and appetite for adventure remind me of Tom Sawyer.
Reading this book is like riding a raft with Tom down the psyche-
delic Mississippi. You meet anew all the famous natives who live
along its shores—Tim Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, John Lilly,
and many others. This book captures both the peculiar terrors and
the deep delights these mind-altering substances can induce. A no-
nonsense personal exploration of a controversial area of scientific
research recounted in a light and engaging manner.”
Nick Herbert, author of
Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics
NeScPs.indd 2 3/20/13 10:26 AM
New Science
The of

P s y c h e d e l i c s

Nexus Culture
At the of ,
Consciousness
,
Spirituality
and
David Jay Brown
Park Street Press
Rochester, Vermont • Toronto, Canada
NeScPs.indd 3 3/20/13 10:26 AM
Park Street Press
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
www.ParkStPress.com
Park Street Press is a division of Inner Traditions International
Copyright © 2013 by David Jay Brown
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, David Jay.
The new science of psychedelics : at the nexus of culture, consciousness, and
spirituality / David Jay Brown.
pages cm
Includes index.
Summary: “What does the future hold for humanity, and can psychedelics help
take us there?”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-59477-492-8 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-62055-142-4 (e-book)
1. Hallucinogenic drugs. 2. Consciousness. I. Title.
BF209.H34N49 2013
154.4—dc23
2012040639

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typeface
To send correspondence to the author of this book, mail a first-class letter to the
author c/o Inner Traditions • Bear and Company, One Park Street, Rochester, VT
05767, and we will forward the communication, or contact the author directly at
www.mavericksofthemind.com.
NeScPs.indd 4 3/20/13 10:26 AM
For all of the psychedelic agents
working to help raise consciousness,
in this universe and elsewhere
NeScPs.indd 5 3/20/13 10:26 AM
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
IntroductIon Awakening from My Slumber and Recognizing My
Preprogrammed Robotic Nature 1
1 Head West and Get High, Young Man 27
2 Confronting the Mysteries of Science 49
3 The Future Evolution of the Human Species 79
4 Approaching the Singularity 99
5 Models of the Mind and Interpreting Psychedelic
Experiences 133
6 The Psychobiology of Gods and Goddesses 165
7 Exploring the Synergistic World of Sex on Drugs 197
8 What Happens to Consciousness after Death? 216
9 How Have Psychedelics Affected Human Culture? 266
AppendIx 1 Transcending the Medical Frontiers: Exploring the
Future of Psychedelic Drug Research 301
AppendIx 2 The Man Behind Mavericks of the Mind: An Interview
with David Jay Brown by Ian Koslow from Time-Peace 316
AppendIx 3 Altered Statesman: An Interview with David Jay Brown
by Damon Orion from Good Times 322
Recommended Reading 330
About the Author 332
Index 333
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